Musicscan: What's your attitude towards As You Drown in general? I noticed that you are a seriously working band, but you guys seem to have a lot of fun as well and don't take yourself too seriously.

As You Drown: We probably take few things seriously at all, apart from the music. When it comes to the band we are usually pretty focused and to the point, although our own retarded brand of comedy may surface from time to time. If you can't have fun together it's probably pretty awful to spend that much time with four other sweaty guys with bad hair.

Musicscan: Have you been surprised by the fact, that listeners from different musical tastes are getting As You Drown? At least that's what I read in the internet... Is this something that matters to you?

As You Drown: When writing the music, the only thing we really consider is what we like ourselves. I think the fact that people from different 'camps' can appreciate it reflects on the fact that we try to mix all of the things we love about brutal music in our own brew. So basically you have both a bit of the oldschool feel and some more modern and technical elements, topped off with a bit of hardcore aggression...which means there's something for everyone to enjoy!

Musicscan: Speaking about Reflection: What sort of evolution has As You Drown gone through from the start into this album? Its pretty aggressive and straightforward, but focussed and technically, too, so you have to be experienced…

As You Drown: It's probably been getting heavier and more aggressive from day one, so you know what to expect next time, hehe. The technical aspect has of course evolved over the years as well, although we feel it's crucial that it benefits the songs instead of being just an excuse to show off. We're not gonna be doing any Yngwie Malmsteen solos in the foreseeable future, so to speak...

Musicscan: What I feel about the album is a coherent and in "one-style" sounding, while it stays crazy and extreme but with some memorable parts? How do you feel about it?

As You Drown: All around intensity and aggression, while still being memorable, was pretty much what we were going for and as you say it's pretty much what we got. We are happy with the results, but of course still hoping to improve and do even better next time.

Musicscan: Of the songs you guys have recorded, which one do you feel crosses the most borders? What other borders, musically and lyrically speaking, do you guys wanna knock down in the future?

As You Drown: The opener of the album, "Ruins and Dead Ends", is probably the song that best summarizes the melding of traditional and modern elements that we tried to achieve with this album. It has both the technical guitarwork and groovy in-your-face aggression of newer death metal, while still retaining the darkness of the old days. As for the next album, we're definitely going to incorporate some new elements and the lyrics will be a lot more focused thematically. We're up for trying pretty much anything that we agree sounds good, so there will definitely be some surprises for you. It will still be aggressive balls-out death metal, but hopefully in a way that no one quite has heard death metal before. Stay tuned...

Musicscan: Speaking about your style of extreme music: How could you explain it to someone unfamiliar with As You Drown? If I were asked to give a description I would speak of an intense, malicious and fast death metal played with a distinctive headbang-attitude and a good sense of humor…

As You Drown: That's probably a pretty accurate description. Generally, what we try to do is mix the dark atmosphere and catchy songwriting of oldschool death with the brutality and technical prowess of the new bands that have emerged. We play our death metal the way we think it should be played - with intensity, conviction and tons of fucking aggression.

Musicscan: Would you agree to my statement, that the acceptance for this kind of complex, crazy and extreme music you are playing has become broader over the last few years. What would you say is the reason for this?

As You Drown: Hopefully people are starting to get more open to the crossing of musical borders, as well as to brutal music in general. It's hard to say what the reason for that is, but from our point of view it's obviously positive. Most people will probably always think that what we do is nothing but noise though...but hey, fuck 'em!

Musicscan: There is a statement I would ask you to comment: Jamey Jasta once said, that the Hardcore and Metal scene are growing together nowadays and that both are respecting this development. What is your opinion on that?

As You Drown: That is probably true for some people, and less true for others. We don't really concern ourselves with genre labels, we just try to write great songs.